Various embodiments of this disclosure relate generally to various aspects and combinations of risk analysis, risk exposures identification, policy download, recommendation of solutions to insure risk exposures, gap analysis, purchasing of insurance policies, the comparison of insurance policies, benchmarking, accounting, marketing to and communicating with consumers, tracking of consumers' and prospects' transactions, and insurance and risk management education.
Presently, the purchase of insurance is generally transacted when consumers contact an insurance professional or enter personal information about a certain risk on-line in a software program and receive an estimated cost of a policy with little regard to their risk profile and whether the coverage offered addresses their protection needs. In this description, the “user” and the “consumer” are assumed to be the same person. However, this need not be so. A consumer may authorize another person, for example an insurance professional or a financial advisor, to assist the consumer in purchasing insurance. For convenience, the discussions in this disclosure will assume that the user and consumer are the same person or entity and that the consumer and the insured are the same person or entity, but it should be understood that the scope of such discussions are not limited to that situation.
Even in cases where a consumer contacts an insurance professional there is a huge variance in the professional education and care that insurance professionals possess or offer. Typically, the information solicited from consumers addresses the insurance companies' underwriting needs regarding items such as locations, models of autos, square footage of homes, height and weight of individuals, or coverage limits required. This information is then entered into a software program and a premium is estimated based on insurance companies' underwriting criteria and any selection of coverages the insurance professional or consumer chooses. Because generally this method does not evaluate the consumer's needs in much detail, often consumers purchase policies that do not provide adequate protection and without any understanding of the impact of the coverages on their well-being at the time of loss. In addition, unless the insurance professional is educated on the various policy forms and is thorough in asking the consumer the right questions, a failure to perform a thorough risk analysis profile of the consumer may occur and inappropriate coverage or inaccurate data may be used to classify some aspects of the operation of consumers.
To avoid discovering the lack of a desired coverage when a claim is reported by consumers, and to assist consumers and insurance professionals in the proper evaluation of the consumer's risk profile prior to purchasing an insurance policy, there is tremendous need for systems and methods that performs risk analysis based on factors such as the consumer's lifestyle, possessions, contractual obligations, number of dependents, or profession, and to provide an opportunity to educate users not only about the cost and major limits of the recommended insurance policy, but also about the coverages provided from multiple insurance companies proposed in the comparison and alerting consumers to any identified coverage gaps and inadequacies not addressed by the policies presented.
In some existing systems where software attempts to perform the functions of insurance professionals in making product recommendations, the process is product-focused and not consumer-focused. In other words, the consumer would first have to identify his or her own need for a product or coverage and then search for the best product or coverage match utilizing the existing art. In this process, if the consumer is not aware of the existence of a risk in their profile or does not understand the full implication of lack of coverage, or if the consumer is not aware of the existence of a product, the existing systems cannot help the consumer. Existing systems do not create a risk profile of the consumer and do not make the consumer aware of his or her insurance needs. Furthermore, the existing systems do not alert the consumer to existing gaps in coverage in their insurance program or analyze or compare policies.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a system starts with first identifying the consumer's needs based on the information provided during the interview. It alerts the consumer to needs of which he or she may or may not be aware and then recommends the products that best address the consumer's needs. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a benchmark report may be formulated comparing the user's selection of policy coverage against the selection of other consumers with similar characteristics.
It has been observed about the existing methods of purchasing insurance that once a consumer provides information for quotes or to purchase a policy, including those policies purchased online, the information provided is no longer readily available to the user for use again with other insurance companies. Every time a consumer attempts to purchase insurance, they are required to re-enter or provide the desired and/or existing coverage information again and again. This process is prone to data entry errors and consumers often rely on memory when asked about desired coverage. In addition, consumers often do not understand the meaning of some or all of the insurance terms.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a data structure containing consumer's information, including existing policy information and pertinent modifications, may be created and stored in a system. This, for example, may be created and stored in a system, including by accessing data structures and information in the current insurance company's database or a data warehouse and downloading it into the system. Thereby, as consumers' needs change, the impact of the change on their risk profile may be detected.
Existing insurance purchasing systems also do not enable users to consistently and reliably maintain good records of the changes to their insurance programs year after year. The existing systems do not capture or respond to users' life or business changes as a function of time. As consumers' needs change, the full impact of the change on their risk profile is often undetected.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a system may maintain the data entered with a time stamp and any changes that occur may be entered to update the risk profile of the consumer, with a new recommendation being generated regarding coverage for any new risk exposures. Ultimately, a chronological report that tracks recommended and/or implemented changes of coverages may be made available to the user.
Some existing systems perform calculations for a specific product, life insurance for example. However, no significant attention is focused on the client beyond limits of insurance.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a system may address multiple insurance products and begin with the consumer's insurance needs and the various policy features that best suit the consumer.
Some existing systems provide multiple claim scenarios to be selected by the user with a recommended coverage and coverage disparity displayed in comparison to an existing policy. However, those systems do not evaluate the insured's needs or create a risk profile for the user for a proper comparison to be made between the consumer's needs and any existing coverage. Selecting coverage based on a claim's scenario does not address the consumer's needs in a comprehensive manner. For example, choosing a claim scenario for an auto accident may provide information about the limits that a consumer should choose should this scenario occurs. However, until and unless comprehensive data is gathered about the consumer such as lifestyle, possessions, or net worth, a proper risk exposure identification and consequently a proper insurance coverage recommendation cannot be made.
Many existing insurance rating systems may be summarized by the simplified illustration of FIG. 1. At the beginning of interview 101, the user has the opportunity to enter information such as name, address, date of birth, among other personal characteristics necessary to underwrite the policy 102. This is followed by the consumer or the user entering the desired coverage 103. Finally, the system provides an estimated premium provided that the consumer meets certain assumptions such as no moving vehicle violations or no further health complications.